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UNIVERSITY OF TSUKUBA NIGHT 2025 Held in Boston
Front row, left to right: NAKAUCHI Yasushi (Vice President for Collaborative Research), President NAGATA, TAKAHASHI Seiichiro (Consul General of Japan in Boston), Maria Zuber (MIT Presidential Advisor for Science and Technology Policy), MACHINO Takeshi (Director, T-CReDO)
Back row, left to right: MARUSHIMA Aiki (CrestecBio), OTSUKI Yuji (FerroptoCure), ITO Tatsuo (CLOVERNA), SATO Taka-Aki (Oschonad Therapeutics), James Carroll (RNA NanoBiotics), Mackenzie Dillenbeck (City Therapeutics), Albert Liu (Vesica AI), Sven Maihofer (xemX), YOKOSAKI Yasuyuki (Antibody Therapeutics)
On September 4, the University of Tsukuba hosted UNIVERSITY OF TSUKUBA NIGHT 2025 at the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC) in Boston, with support from the Consulate-General of Japan in Boston. This marked the third time the University has organized the event at CIC, following its first-ever Japanese university-hosted event there in 2019.
Positioned in the Boston area, a global hub for innovation, the event aimed to broadly showcase the University of Tsukuba and its partner universities' efforts in creating and supporting university-launched ventures, while further enhancing the university's presence and building new collaborations. Nine startups, including ventures from the University of Tsukuba and three ventures from its Campus-in-Campus (CiC) partner universities, all focused on healthcare, pitched their ideas to local investors.
The event opened with greetings from President NAGATA Kyosuke of the University of Tsukuba, Consul General TAKAHASHI Seiichiro of the Consulate-General of Japan in Boston, and Maria Zuber, MIT Presidential Advisor for Science and Technology Policy. This was followed by remarks from MACHINO Takeshi, Director of the Tsukuba Clinical Research & Development Organization (T-CReDO), highlighting expectations for the event theme, "Healthcare Innovation through Global Startup Ecosystem."
During the pitch session, each startup delivered a concise, compelling presentation of their technology and vision. The audience engaged actively with questions, resulting in lively discussions that extended beyond the scheduled time. The Q&A sessions fostered deep exchanges between presenters and participants, further enhancing the intellectual intensity of the event.
Toward the end of the event, startups delivering particularly outstanding pitches were recognized with the Best Pitch Award and the Audience Choice Award. Recipients, selected based on both judges' evaluations and audience votes, received enthusiastic applause from the attendees.
The event drew approximately 450 participants. Presenters received multiple requests for individual meetings with investors and industry professionals both immediately after the event and the following day, demonstrating significant networking outcomes. The evening provided tangible results for the University of Tsukuba's efforts to build a global startup ecosystem.
Left to right: NAKAUCHI Yasushi (Vice President for Collaborative Research), Vesica AI representatives Charles P. Zahl, IKEDA Atsushi, Albert Liu, James Carroll (RNA NanoBiotics), President NAGATA, MACHINO Takeshi (Director, T-CReDO)